In Search of the Black Rose

"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet"
"Romeo and Juliet"

This was the first non-Japanese book review scheduled for this year...  until I moved Lindongzhiguan up to the first post of the year. Oh well.

It is in the year 1327 when friar William of Baskerville and his apprentice Adso of Melk travel to a Benectidine monastery in Northern Italy, The monastery is to be "neutral grounds" where representatives of Pope John XII and the Franciscans will debate the theological discussion regarding the poverty of Jesus, as ever since the Franciscans proclaimed this point, they have been made a target by the Pope. When William arrives at the abbey however, they are informed that the monk Adelmo has passed away, having seeminly fallen from a tower of the library at the top floor of the aedificium, but as the windows were all shut, it is unlikely Adelmo committed suicide, as people seldom tend to shut the windows behind them after jumping down. The abbot of the monastery asks William, a former inquisitor, to investigate the case, and preferably, before the big discussion starts. William's investigations brings him contact with a diverse casts of monks who live in the monastery, from a blind old monk who despises laughter to a seemingly cooperative herbalist and a often-grumbling glazier, who all occassionally have their own theological discussions with each other or William. William's probings into Adelmo's life, who might not really have been celebate thanks to his fellow monks, also turn his attention to the library of the monastery. The aedificium is basically a fortress, and the library is at the very top. The library houses an immense treasure cove full of knowledge, with books and manuscripts collected from the entire world, some even considered heretical or of the devil, but too valuable to dispose off. Monks copy and translate manuscrupts in the scriptorium on the second floor, but the library itself is only accessible to the librarian and his assistant: monks have to apply for a manuscript, and it's only the librarian who can give permission, and who can even find his way through the maze that is the library, as the top floor is designed as a mystifying labyrinth filled with books and manuscripts. But soon, more curious deaths occur in the monastery, from a monk found hurled face down in a vat of pig's blood to a monk's brain being crushed with an orb. William soon detects a pattern between the deaths, but can he find the murderer in time in Umberto Eco's debut novel Il nome della rosa ("The Name of the Rose", 1980)?

Il nome della rosa is one of those books I had always been aware of, but never got started on. I knew the book took on the form of a mystery novel, but was also about a lot of other topics and themes, and certainly closer to "serious literature" than most of the fiction I read. I have not seen the film, but the idea of a medieval mystery set in a monastery sounded fun, even if I already knew it might not be the actual focus of the book. I have seen the book also mentioned in the context of "anti-mysteries" in Japanese fiction, like Kyomu he no Kumotsu or Maya Yutaka's work like Tsubasa Aru Yami and Natsu to Fuyu no Sonata, books that took on the form and tropes of a "classic" mystery novel, but also use it to discuss very other themes or even the flaws and trappings of the mystery genre itself. While those kind of books seldom end up as my actual favorite books, I do find them interesting and captivating to read once in a way, perhaps exactly because 90% of what I do read is straightforward mystery fiction. A friend of mine read the book a while back and was really enthusiastic about it, which brought the book to my attention again, and in a manner extremely fitting to Il nome della rosa, I happened to come across the book at my local little free library, so I picked it up without any hesitation, because I really needed to know what it was about.

And indeed,  Il nome della rosa is about a murder mystery, but also not. Though I'd say claiming it's not a true murder mystery at all, would be wrong: it is most certainly a murder mystery, and yes, while the book is also about a lot of other themes, especially theological discussions, those themes are used to support the murder mystery, and are definitely what elevate the mystery elements of the book. To turn it around: if this book didn't cover those themes and you had the bare-bones tricks and explanation behind the murders, you'd have a very average murder mystery, as a lot of it isn't really surprising or even original taken on their own. But Eco manages to weave these murders so very well with the background of the monastery, the monks and their motives and beliefs, Il nome della rosa becomes a very captivating work that thematically, is very impressive for a mystery novel.

Atmosphere is absolutely fantastic too. The medieval monastery really comes alive in the book, which is presented as a translation of translations of a manuscript originally written by Adso decades after the events, adding a cool book-in-book context. While the prose can a bit wordy (Adso must really be into doors to describe them in such detail), the presentation of how monks had to live in a monastery, how monks from various backgrounds (beliefs/schools) would interact with each other and of course the political struggles between factions of the Church are all very memorable. The actual theological discussion regarding Jesus' poverty for example is dense, but it's surprisingly funny if you make it through. The prose, interspersed with Latin phrases and where people often go monologuing or debating philosophical matters, is dense, and takes a while to get used to, and even then the book's not a very easy read, but it's also done to imitate the style of writing, so it's something you'll have to live with. I personally think that if the murder mystery plot was the absolute most important thing for this book, a lot of trimming would have been better without sacrificing on its themes, but understanding that is not what the intention was, I can let it slide. At the center of what gives this book its amazing vibe is the library: an almost magical place, which houses knowledge from all across the world, on the top floor of a fortress designed as a labyrinth. While I found the way the book leads William and Adso to investigating the library a bit too direct (there were no real direct clues leading to the library), the passages of them trying to make sense of the library are really cool. It's a bit disappointing the book isn't really trying to give the reader a chance to penetrate the secrets of the library themselves, and a lot of the mystery revolving around the library is sadly enough not synergetically connected to the murders, but as a atmospheric prop, it does its job very well.

As said, the mystery behind the murders taken on their own are not extremely complex or surprising. A lot of the deaths are incredibly straightforward (and William deduces the truth of some of them even before the readers gets any time to do anything), while a certain trick used for some other murders is unlikely to really catch any seasoned mystery reader off-guard, as it's... like the answer of one of those short one-page mystery quizzes you'd sometimes see. Yet, there's a lot to like here. I love the thematics behind the murders (the pattern that William picks up on) and the reason/explanation behind the pattern is also great: it fits perfectly with some of the themes this book handles and which had been slowly popping its head once in a while, and I like the sheer bombastic appeal of it. I have read other mystery stories that tackle the exact same pattern, that take it more seriously, but I think it works very well in Il nome della rosa, both in the "world of the book" as well as a major theme.

But it's definitely the motive for the crimes that works best in this book. As mentioned above, the characters (mostly monks) are all clearly defined by their beliefs and it's their actions that set things in motion. Sometimes it's the flaws of their beliefs, or flaws as them as a human being that moves things, sometimes it's their strength of their beliefs or strenghts as human beings which ironically sets the wheels of death in motion, but it's built-up to very convincingly in this novel. While I personally do think some of the dialogues (conversations/discussions) on philosophical questions go on longer than actually necessary, they do tie back to the mystery, making Il nome della rosa a very humanistic mystery despite it's very gothic, horror-esque apppearences. At the same time, it does definitely also touch upon anti-mystery themes, with William of Baskerville (obviously inspired by Sherlock Holmes) being both a brilliant detective, but also a flawed detective who certainly doesn't do everything perfectly in this novel. Readers of late Ellery Queen works or Maya Yutaka will definitely find a lot to like here, as the book does explore the theme of a flawed detective quite well, especially as it again ties back to themes that apply to most characters in the book. Other themes like the search for knowledge and truth, that of course are very important to mystery fiction in general, also become relevant, and all have great synergy with the motive behind the deaths. I mentioned earlier the library elements of the book didn't have much synergy with the mystery plot: in a way, the library is a symbol for the mystery, but it is surprising how the themes do really synergize well with each other and the deaths. Seen as such, Il nome della rosa is a great mystery.

I do think I liked Il nome della rosa a lot more already the day after finishing the actual book, though I already liked it then. While purely seen from a mystery perspective, I think some elements are just too longwinded, while elements like the connection of the library to the mystery and the tricks behind the deaths are a bit disappointing in their shallow execution, I think that overall, this is a very memorable mystery novel, as it is thematically very strong, and pulls off some things (the pattern!) mystery-wise precisely because it is because of these themes, and other books might have had more trouble with it. It's not the easiest book to get through and it is certainly not as straightforward as most of the mystery novels I usually read, but definitely worth a read.

And now I will bring this book back to the little free library so someone else may seek the knowledge herewithin.

Original Italian title: Umberto Eco " Il nome della rosa"

Dead Man's Tale

’Tis strange,—but true; for truth is always strange;   

Stranger than fiction; if it could be told

"Don Juan"

This review had to be posted after another one I had already written and scheduled, otherwise I might have just pushed this one ahead and posted it the moment I finished writing. But I didn't want to mess up the order scheduled posts too much...

The Kannagi Uromu series was a series of succesful non-fiction books by high school student Mitsurugi Masaru based on the real adventures Masaru had with his childhood friends Kannagi Uromu and Hoshikawa Kaguya. Uromu was an absolutely brilliant detective who managed to solve many seemingly unsolvable crimes. Masaru himself considered himself only an "observer", writing down these adventures, but Kaguya, and their later allies Watarase Suzune and Minamori Izuko proved themselves to be very capable detectives themselves too as they assisted Uromu. Uromu however was a very people-shy person and never appeared in public, which was why Masaru wrote down their adventures as fair-play mystery novels. The Detectives and their Observer had one nemesis whom they would encounter in several of Masaru's accounts: the "King of Phantom Thieves" Kuonji Sharaku, also known as Demon's Gate Syndrome. He and his five Disciples would commit the most baffling and surprising impossible crimes, though they never hurt anyone during their crimes, which only added to the sense of entertainment of these confrontations between the Detectives and the King of Phantom Thieves. This legend of Kannagi Uromu however fell apart soon after the publication of The Last Case of Kannagi Uromu, which was a record of the final confrontation the Detectives had with the King of Phantom Thieves, which started with an invitation by Kuonji Saharaku to the Detectives to his secret hide-out the Musical Box House. At the end of their adventure, both Kuonji and Uromu had disappeared. The Last Case of Kannagi Uromu was an anomaly in the series, as the truth behind the mysterious death that occured in the Musical Box House was not revealed in the book and with Uromu gone, nobody really knew what happened there. But not long after the release of The Last Case of Kannagi Uromu's release, the rumors started: Mitsurugi Masaru was accused of being a fraud and that there never was any Kannagi Uromu. With Uromu being immensely people-shy, he was never seen by outsiders, fueling these beliefs and as online message boards were the main form of social media back then, these rumors quickly spread through BBSes, accusing Mitsurugi of having fabricated all these stories. Mitsurugi and the other Detectives however did not fight back against these rumours, and the publishing world immediately pulled away from these books and from their author Mitsurugi Masaru. The books became out of print and a thing of the past, and Kannagi Uromu would turn into an old internet rumor people would hear about once in a while.

Almost two decades almost later, and Shinonome University students Hakuto and Shiki are walking together on the streets. Not because they're dating, Hakuto assures the reader, even if he would very much like that, but even though they are always hanging out together, take turns cooking every night, he helps her with her studies and they also joined the same club, Hakuto sadly enough has to admit they're, in the end, simply neighbors in the same building. But while walking together, they see a woman collapsing on the street and they bring her back to Shiki's room. The woman was also carrying a book, which turns out to to be The Last Case of Kannagi Uromu. The woman introduces herself as Mitsurugi Yui, a fellow Shinonome University student and the daughter of Mitsurugi Masaru, the man who was accused of being a fraud, and of Hoshikawa Kaguya, one of the Detectives, but her mother left Yui and her father when she was young. She explains that the adventures her father had as a high school student with  Uromu, Kaguya and all the other people were real. Yui wants to learn what really happened in the last confrontation between the Detectives and The King of Phantom Thieves, but due to circumstances she can't ask her father (the writer) about it. Yui asks Shiki and Hakuto if they happen to know someone who can help her, and as it happens, they do. As both Shiki and Hakuto are (involuntary) members of the Detective Club, led by Kongouji Kira. Kira hails from a rich family and may seem like a spoiled brat, but she's actually really intelligent too, and has solved many cases. She does act exactly like she owns everything and everyone though, and when Yui asks Kira to find out the truth, Kira decides to order the members of the Detective Club all to come up with a solution to The Last Case of Kannagi Uromu. They are all to read the book, while Kira will use her "special means" to get more information from official sources, and they all have to find out what really happened in the Musical Box House two decades ago. But as each of the members try to come up with a solution to the problem, it's only Shiki who wonders whether Yui should really know the truth, and whether a plausible solution isn't better for her sake. But what answer do the members of the Detective Club arrive at? That's the big question in Konno Tenryuu's Kannagi Uromu Saigo no Jiken ("The Last Case of Kannagi Uromu" 2022).

I had previously read Konno Tenryuu's two Alchemist novels, as well as Cinderella-jou no Satsujin ("The Cinderella Castle Murder" 2021), all entertaining mystery novels featuring fantasy elements, so I was quite pleasantly surprised when I noticed his Kannagi Uromu Saigo no Jiken had taken the ninth place in the Honkaku Mystery Best 10 ranking for 2023 (which covers books published late 2021 - late 2022). The book was released in the summer of 2022, and I had been eyeing it for a while, but I hadn't expected it to get picked as one of the best honkaku reads of the year. I was a bit surprised that unlike the other mystery novels I read by Konno this novel didn't use fantasy elements. What surprised me the most however was the dedication found at the beginning of the book. For it was a reference to Spiral ~ Suiri no Kizuna 2: Koutetsu Banchou no Misshitsu ("Spiral ~ The Bonds of Reasoning 2: The Locked Room of the Steel Gang Boss"), a book which had been out of print for almost two decades, but which I happened to have read only two weeks before starting on Kannagi Uromu Saigo no Jiken, so it was a complete coincidence I recognized the reference at once and that I was reading these two books in order! This obviously felt like destiny, so while I originally bought the book and was only planning to look inside to see how long it'd be etc. and then read it later, I decided to move it up the reading list right away.

The common points between the two books are of course very easy to recognize: just like Spiral ~ Suiri no Kizuna 2, Kannagi Uromu Saigo no Jiken is a story where a crime happened in the past, and where a record of this crime (in this case, the novel The Last Case of Kannagi Uromu) is used to come up with an interpretation of what happened so long ago. Both books also revolve around the concepts of multiple solutions, which in this book is done by having Kira command her club members to all come up with a solution themselves for the events in The Last Case of Kannagi Uromu because that's more fun, and there's also the notion that the truth isn't the most important factor in this story, but that there should be a solution that is the best for Yui herself, because the truth might not be what she really wants to know.  Kannagi Uromu Saigo no Jiken follows a two-part structure, with the "contemporary" narrative starring Hakuto and Shiki at times interrupted by whole chapters and some excerpts from The Last Case of Kannagi Uromu, which incidentally is clearly written very differently from the contemporary narrative, so it does really feel like a different 'novel-within-a-novel.' Apparently there are quite some readers who first got acquainted with the concept of multiple solutions in a mystery novel through the second Spiral novel, which explains why Konno added that dedication.

The Last Case of Kannagi Uromu, as a novel-within-a-novel is quite interesting to read, as while it's supposed to be a "non-fiction" book about the real adventures Masaru, Uromu and his friends had as a high school student, it reads a lot like a grand Great Detective adventure novel, with mysterious manors, Disciples who serve the King of Phantom Thieves and some characters even carrying named weapons like they were in an RPG. This story has Uromu and his friends invited to the residence of the King of Phantom Thieves as he has a surprise for them. While Masaru and the other Detectives are very suspicious of Kuonji's motives, Uromu decides to accept the invitation to see what will happen. As a "security measure" music plays in every room in the Musical Box House whenever a room door is opened after midnight. Each room has its own specific tune, so you know immediately which room door is opened. During the night, everyone is awakened by a sudden tune and they all go out in the hallway. Only one person doesn't appear, who has a room on an upper floor. It was of course their room tune that played, and when they open the locked door, they find that person dead inside their room, stabbed in the stomach and no weapon inside the room. But because a tune plays immediately once the door is opened after midnight, everyone in the house seems to have an alibi because they all appeared in the hallway from their own rooms immediately after the tune of the victim's room upstairs started playing.

Within the narrative of The Last Case of Kannagi Uromu, there are all kinds of small details that pique your interests and other clues that aren't explored in the novel itself, and those are the things the members of the Detective Club focus on in the modern day while building their solutions. What is satisfying about this novel, for example in comparison with The Poisoned Chocolates Case, is that each of the solutions is truly based on the same base information (the chapters quoted from The Last Case of Kannagi Uromu). The Poisoned Chocolates Case may be famous as a mystery novel about multiple solutions, but there each member of the Crimes Club usually did extra research themselves to get "exclusive" clues and information, and used that to create their solutions. That's not the case in Kannagi Uromu Saigo no Jiken, where everyone is playing with the same puzzle pieces, but they still arrive at very different solutions. And that's even if they focus on the exact same puzzle pieces as the fundamental parts of their theories. What is the most fun about Kannagi Uromu Saigo no Jiken is how sometimes the same exact clue is referred to in each solution, but still interpreted in very different manners, leading to very different solutions. Some are the good kind of ridiculous, others seem a bit too mundane, but very doable, and there's quite some variety despite this not being a super long novel. Still, it's impressive to see multiple viable solutions to an impossible crime set-up (and there are some other mysteries in The Last Case of Kannagi Uromu too that need to be addressed), all using more-or-less the same clues. Don't expect to be able to figure out all the different solutions beforehand though: as said, many of the clues are used in multiple solutions, so even if you notice an important clue, it's unlikely you'll guess all the uses, and of course, the exact order of the solutions presented in the book is impossible to predict beforehand. The final solution presented (which is of course considered the "best") has a few moments where I thought there's no way the reader is going to deduce exactly that based on the clues, but overall, it's a very satisfying novel and a great example of how to do a mystery novel with multiple solutions. The interesting thing is of course none of these solutions are by definition false solutions, as the The Last Case of Kannagi Uromu doesn't have a proper solution, so even when one solution is followed by a different one, it never feels like the first solution was unnecessary.

One of the reason I like Queen-school chains of deduction is the way it focuses on the importance of clues and how they combine together leading to hypotheses, and I think Kannagi Uromu Saigo no Jiken is a good example of that. While the chains of deductions in this book aren't like those in a Queen novel, as in, identifying characteristics of a culprit and then eliminating suspects, the way it focuses on the interpretation of clues and weaving a web between various clues is definitely like you'd expect of a Queen novel, only now used to create multiple chains of deductions which all lead to different solutions. 

Oh, by the way, at the end of the book it's mentioned how this book was originally submitted to two different debuting author awards: first the Mephisto Prize in 2012, where it was one of the titles noticed by the editors but didn't get picked eventually, and again, with a new title, for the 29th Ayukawa Tetsuya Award, where it made it all the way to the final jury round, but lost to Houjou Kie's Jikuu Ryokousha no Sunadokei ("The Hourglass of the Time-Space Traveller", 2019). Sometimes, getting a book published via an award for debuting authors also involves a lot of luck and timing...

Kannagi Uromu Saigo no Jiken is a novel I enjoyed a lot. Perhaps part of it was reading it right after Spiral ~ Suiri no Kizuna 2 and seeing its influence on a book published twenty years later, but I'd say that the book is excellent even without that context. It's a very good take on the mystery story with multiple solutions, and you know, I think both sides of the story have potential become a series: I'd be interested in both earlier adventures of Kannagi Uromu and his band of detectives, as well as more of Hakuto, Shiki and Kira of the Detective Club. Anyway, very likely this will end up on my list of favorite reads of this year!

Original Japanese title(s): 紺野天龍『神薙虚無最後の事件』

Murder Digs Deep

「論理の旋律は必ず真実を奏でる」

『スパイラル～推理の絆』

"The melody of logic always plays the truth."

"Spiral - The Bonds of Reasoning"

Spiral ~ Suiri no Kizuna or Spiral ~ The Bonds of Reasoning was a mystery(-themed) manga created by writer Shirodaira Kyou and artist Mizuno Eita which ran from 1999 until 2005, and which also saw an anime adaptation in 2002. The series was about Ayumu, who lives with his sister-in-law Madoka after his brother Kiyotaka disappeared. Kiyotaka was a true prodigy, talented at everything he did and his brilliant mind was put to good use as he was a police detective, but two years ago, Kiyotaka disappeared after a final phone call with Ayumu where he mentioned the phrase "Blade Children". At the start of the series, Ayumu gets involved in a murder case that occurs at his school, but with the help of the school newspaper club president Hiyono, he manages to prove his innocence, only to learn that this murder involved the Blade Children and that he himself, as the younger brother of Kiyotaka, has become involved with this affair too. This is the start of an adventure where Ayumu and Hiyono start digging in the mystery of the Blade Children, which however is not without danger for themselves and more often than not, Ayumu finds himself forced into deadly games of life and death to get to the truth. While the first volume or so might make Spiral ~ The Bonds of Reasoning look like Detective Conan or Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo with 'a case of the week', it soon becomes a very different series, focusing more on deadly strategic games where Ayumu has to fight for survival with his mind, and the last third/ending of the series is probably not at all like you'd expect based on the first chapter, 

Author Shirodaira Kyou also wrote four novels set in the world of Spiral ~ The Bonds of Reasoning (with illustrations by artist Mizuno), and in general, they seem to have been received pretty well, so I always wanted to read them, and recently, I managed to get hold of them. The first one I read is not the first on the series though: I started with the second one, because it was often referred to as the best in the series and I even sometimes saw references to the book outside of a Spiral ~ The Bonds of Reasoning context, so just on its merits as a mystery novel! Spiral ~ Suiri no Kizuna 2: Koutetsu Banchou no Misshitsu ("Spiral ~ The Bonds of Reasoning 2: The Locked Room of the Steel Gang Boss") was first released in 2002 and as I am typing this, I was paging through my own copy, which was apparently from the 14th printing run in 2004, so I guess this book sold reasonably well to have at least so many print runs! The book has no direct ties to the main series, so you could get pretty easily into it without any prior knowledge of the series, as it is clearly set very early in the series' timeline, when most of the Super Dramatic Events haven't happened yet. You could easily read it after just reading the first volume of the manga or watching the first few episodes. The book opens with a nightly visit to the convenience store by Ayumu, when he witnesses a girl dancing on the street. The girl feels offended by Ayumu's staring eyes, while Ayumu is offended by her dancing in the street for everybody to see, and after a bit of bickering, the girl orders Ayumu she never wants to see him again, but also gives him a metal badge with the kanji for "steel" etched into it, telling him to keep it safe. The following day, when Ayumu is loofing around in the newspaper club's office, Hiyono immediately recognizes the badge as the one once owned by the "Steel Banchou" or "Steel Gang Boss" about five decades ago. She tells about the Golden Age of School Gangs, when juvenile delinquents at schools across the country formed gangs who would gather under charismatic "banchou" (gang bosses) like the Magic Gang Boss or Pistol Gang Boss, and how ultimately the dramatic suicide of the Steel Gang Boss prevented a nation-wide gang war. Ayumu buys nothing of Hiyono's story, but then the mysterious girl, who happens to be a student at their school too, appears in the club office. At first it appears she wanted to hire Hiyono to locate "the boy she gave a badge to", but finally noticing Ayumu in the room and being too proud to admit she wants the badge back, she changes her request to Hiyono (and Ayumu): she wants them to prove that contrary to what is believed, the Steel Boss didn't commit suicide, but was in fact murdered inside a locked room and by doing so, destroy the nearly fifty-year old legend of the Steel Boss who gave his life to prevent a war.

Okay, I have to admit this book wasn't at all what I had expected of it. For on the whole, this tale isn't really connected to the main Spiral ~ The Bonds of Reasoning series and at times even feels out of place. The only real connections are Ayumu and Hiyono, but the "world-building" presented in this story sounds nothing at all like the rest of the series, which is really odd. It feels more like a story author Shirodaira wanted to write, and he happened to use Spiral ~ The Bonds of Reasoning to tell this story because it would have an established audience of readers already. On the other hand, I can definitely understand why so many readers like this particular novel, and how it is an important novel when seen in a wider context, to be exact, in relation to Shirodaira's later work.

So the book doesn't really feel like a Spiral story, and that's also because almost half of the book consists of excerpts from an in-universe book, being the definitive work on the Golden Age of School Gangs and their wars. This book details how in post-war Japan,  juvenile delinquent students started forming gangs at school under the leadership of banchou, who would get into fights with the leaders of other schools. What follows is an absolutely bonkers story about school gang bosses plotting to become the number one boss across the whole of Japan, putting other schools under their control, and in-party power struggles eventually leading to the rise of the Magic Gang Boss and the Pistol Gang Boss, two charismatic leaders who basically each controlled half of the schools in Japan. But when a new leader arrived in the form of the Steel Boss, the balance of powers was disturbed, and things were heading to a nation-wide school war between the three factions, until on the day of the war of the fates, the Steel Boss was found dead inside the little shed he was living in on the riverside. He had taken poison, and the cottage was locked from the inside. A few days later, letters were delivered to the Magic Gang Boss and the Pistol Gang Boss signed by the Steel Boss, where he stated his wishes to stop unnecessary bloodshed and his death should be enough to make everyone realize this, and this became the legend of the Steel Boss. Author Shirodaira obviously has immense fun writing this completely ridiculous story of high school students fighting each other like Warring State period generals, with 'wars' being fought along the riverside and 'clever' strategies and tricks employed by the warring factions, It doesn't feel like it fits Spiral ~ The Bonds of Reasoning, but the world of those stereotypical Japanese school gang delinquents fighting nation-wide wars is just really funny, and while this "history lesson" is really really long, it does set-up the mystery and all the necessary clues to solve the death of the Steel Boss. For the facts say the Steel Gang Boss died drinking poison in a small river-side shed, of which the door was barred from the inside and the window wouldn't open due to a crooked frame. That coupled with the suicide letters sent to the Magic Gang Boss and the Pistol Gang Boss seems to indicate suicide, so can Ayumu prove this was actually not a suicide, but a locked room murder, and can he prove who did this and why?

And this is the point where this book becomes important in the greater context, for we soon learn their client isn't exactly looking for the truth, but she simply wants to destroy the legend of the Steel Gang Boss. And so Ayumu comes up with three different explanations based on the known facts for the death of the Steel Gang Boss that indeed put the Steel Boss' death in a completely different light, changing his death from a honorable suicide to prevent a war, to a one-direction murder. So in a way, Spiral ~ Suiri no Kizuna 2: Koutetsu Banchou no Misshitsu is a kind of direct precursor to Shirodaira's later series Kyokou Suiri (known in English as both Invented Inference and In/Spectre). In Invented Inference, the truth usually often involves something supernatural, and the series detective has to come up with a believable human explanation for the events, so one without the supernatural stuff even though that is the truth. So that series revolves around coming up with believable inferences based on the known facts, but they don't need to be true. Invented Inference is about interpretation and multiple solutions and those are exactly the themes of Spiral ~ Suiri no Kizuna 2: Koutetsu Banchou no Misshitsu: we are told what is likely a factual build-up to the death of the Steel Boss nearly fifty years ago, but Ayumu then comes up with alternate interpretations of the facts that lead to believable theories about the murder of the Steel Boss. And that is quite fun! The basic puzzle pieces are all the same, but by shuffling them and turning some pieces around, you are able to come up with a very different picture. Each of Ayumu's theories seem plausible enough, but make use of clever interpretation of the facts presented in the excerpts from the history on the Golden Age of Gang Bosses, allowing him to "open the locked room" and change the Steel Boss' suicide into a murder and make the Steel Boss a simple "victim" rather than someone who sacrificed himself. The book isn't really long, so the three "solutions" are all fairly simple, but they are supported well by the clues both in terms of "mechanics to create the locked room situation" as well as in motive, and they can be quite surprising. I believe a lot of readers praised this book because it was their first encounter with a mystery novel built around multiple solutions/interpretations, and given that Shirodaira later came up with Invented Inference, I think he himself liked the idea a lot too. The book is more interesting read as a book about motives though than as an actual locked room mystery, but I certainly enjoyed it.

Spiral ~ Suiri no Kizuna 2: Koutetsu Banchou no Misshitsu also contains a short story which is technically a prequel, starrring Ayumu's brother Kiyotaka back when he was in the police force. Apparently, there was a whole series of these short stories published online back when the manga was still being serialized. The four novels would all include these stories with Kiyotaka as extras. This particular story is a pure whodunnit which is split up in two parts, the problem and the solution, so I assume originally, they published the first part online and the solution would be published a bit later, allowing readers some time to guess who the murderer was. As a whodunnit it's pretty simple, and a bit weird because it involves a man creating a robotic hand for himself to commit a murder but stuff happens of course, but it's fun enough considering this was just a short story published on the official site. 

Anyway, Spiral ~ Suiri no Kizuna 2: Koutetsu Banchou no Misshitsu is not at all what I had expected. I have read spin-off novels for detective manga series before, like those of Detective Conan and Kindaichi Shounen no Jikenbo, but those novels were written to be like the stories in the manga. Spiral ~ Suiri no Kizuna 2 was clearly not written with such intentions. It is only marginally connected to the Spiral series. but as a mystery story, it's pretty fun, focusing on the concepts of multiple solutions. The story itself, about the student gang wars, is really ridiculous, but you can sense Shirodaira had a lot of fun coming up with that backstory and especially knowing he later went on to write Invented Inference, I think Spiral ~ Suiri no Kizuna 2 is a pretty rewarding mystery.

Original Japanese title(s): 城平京(著) 水野英多(イラスト) 『小説　スパイラル～推理の絆2　鋼鉄番長の密室』

It Runs in the Family

「論理の路はつながりました」

『春ゆきてレトロチカ』

 

"The path of logic is connected"

 "The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story"

Is there like a rule that when Square-Enix makes a mystery game, it needs to take place across time and needs to have game mechanics revolving around generating hypotheses?

One of the earliest games I discussed on this blog, and one that I still think fondly of, is Trick X Logic on the PSP. The manner in which it translates the reading experience of a puzzle plot whodunnit story to a video game is absolutely fantastic, and shows very well how a properly written mystery story should allow a reader to gather clues, build hypotheses and lead them to the one and only answer. Of course, this was not surprising, considering the stories found in Trick X Logic were written by authors like Ayatsuji Yukito, Arisugawa Alice, Maya Yutaka, Ooyama Seiichirou and more! (Disclosure: I have translated the works of some of these authors!) Each of the stories in this game was presented in a novel game style, so simply a prose story you read like any other book. As you read the story, you pick up key words and phrases. Once you're done with the "Problem" part of the story, the interactive element start: as the player, you now have to answer the question of whodunnit. How? By using all those key words and phrases from the story in question, and combining them to generate questions, insights and hypotheses. For example, if the story mentions both "X is left-handed" "X caught the ball with his right hand", you could combine these two phrases to generate questions and hypotheses like: "X is ambidextrous," "Is X actually right-handed?" "Is X not able to use his left hand?" These new phrases could also be used, for example, "Is X not able to use his left hand?" and "X fell earlier from his horse" might generate the theory "X hurt his left hand." Trick X Logic thus was a game that really showed how you are supposed to read a detective story, focus on key phrases and combining them to create all kinds of hypotheses, even if they might be wrong. And as you create more and more hypotheses and combine these with each other again, you eventually arrive at the truth. Trick X Logic is in my opinion still one of the few games that really shows how a prose puzzle plot detective story should be tackled and I have always lamented the fact it never got a sequel or never inspired other games in the same spirit.

When earlier this year Square-Enix announced they'd release the FMV (Full Motion Video) detective adventure game Haru Yukite, Retrotica ("As Spring Passes By,  Retrotica") in May 2022, I was absolutely thrilled, for it was made by the director of Trick X Logic and was clearly inspired by that game. Released in English with the less poetic title The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story and available on Switch/Steam/PS4/PS5, the game tells an epic story that takes place across a whole century, and is told through live-action drama (interestingly, the director of this game also worked on 428, which also used live-action heavily). The titular Shijima family is a clan with history, sordid history even as recently, a skeleton was found under a tree at Shijima manor. Shijima Eiji, a medical scientist, asks the mystery writer Kagami Haruka to look into the case of the skeleton found at his parental home: Eiji is a medical consultant for Haruka's mystery novels, and thinks she can find out more about the mysterious skeleton. Haruka and her editor Akari go to Shijima manor, where they are welcomed by Eiji's father and they are allowed to witness an ancient ceremony which is held once a century by the Shijima family. After the ceremony, they are to have tea, but Eiji's father is poisoned. Haruka soon learns the Shijima family not only has skeletons in their garden, but also in the closet: for the last century, members of the Shijima family have been involved in various murder cases, and each time these murders were connected to the "Tokijiku" or Fruit of Youth, a mythological fruit that is supposed to give eternal youth to those who eat the coveted food. Realizing that the poisoning in 2022 and the skeleton have to do with the past murder cases, which also all involved a scarlet camellia left at the various scenes, Haruka decides to read up on the old cases and see if she can solve those, as they are the only clues she has to solve the current poisoning case. And thus Haruka's investigation into a series of murder cases taking place across the twentieth and twenty-first century starts...

The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story is not a perfect game. It is not a perfect mystery game. But I really, really want to recommend this game to people who like puzzle plot mystery fiction, because it is basically the best next thing after Trick X Logic, and that game is hard to recommend because, well, it was only released in Japan and only on the PSP.  But while The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story has its hick-ups here and there, like its spiritual predecessor, it does really show well how a proper mystery story should lay its clues, how it should invite the reader (player) to use these clues to come up with properly built-up theories and how to combine theories to ultimately arrive at the truth. Few mystery games really show and teach you "reasoning techniques" that are also applicable to mystery in for example prose form, but The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story definitely does. Sorry for the self-promotion here, but if you liked mystery stories like The Moai Island Puzzle, Death Among the Undead, Death of the Living Dead and other puzzle-focused shin honkaku novels: this is a proper shin honkaku mystery game and you owe it to yourself to at least check it out. 

Once you're done with the game, you feel like you have watched a full season of a detective drama. The story starts in 2022 and many chapters ("episodes") are also set there, but Haruka also looks into prior cases involving members of the Shijima family, the Tokijiku and the Scarlet Camellia, some even taking place as early as in 1922!  In terms of terms of structure and gameplay, The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story is very similar to Trick X Logic as mentioned earlier. Each chapter/episode starts with a lengthy live-action drama part that unfolds like a proper mystery detective story, from the building up drama to the discovery of the crime and subsequent investigation. Once the first "Problem" part of the episode is over, Haruka starts theorizing about the case in the Reasoning part.  Here the player has to answer a few crucial questions by using the clues and observations made during the first part. You can also rewatch all the relevant scenes of the drama part, or check other important information like floorplans and character relation charts here. As you consider the case using the leading questions as a guide, you combine these questions with the gathered clue fragments to generate hypotheses (many of them actually incorrect). Once you have generated enough hypotheses and new insights, you can move on to the Solution part of the story, where you get the classic "Everyone is gathered in the parlor and the detective reveals who did it" scene: this too is presented as a live-action drama, but the player now has to use the various hypotheses they generated earlier to answer all the important questions and eventually point out who the murderer is. 

 

The process of "observation" -> "creating hypotheses" -> "combining hypotheses" -> "point out whodunnit" is really satisfying, and the game mechanic itself is an excellent translation of how one should tackle a prose detective story too. I do have to say that the controls for the Reasoning part are pretty bad, at least on a console (I played the game on Switch). You have to constantly drag clue fragments to the corresponding question, but not only is dragging these fragments across the screen very time-consuming with a controller, for some reason, you are required to move each clue fragment to a specific place (suppose a question requires three clues: you can't place clue A to the right side of the question because it has to be to the left side). And strangely enough, the touch screen of the Switch is not supported, even though that would make dragging a lot more convenient... 

Generating hypotheses is definitely one of my favorite parts of the game. The mechanic is very simple (the game is made to appeal to non-gamers) and of course, the hypotheses are automatically generated once you combine the correct clues together, but the game does a great job at showing the player how each hypothesis, correct and wrong, are properly based on the clues. Often mystery games just offer you a list of optional answers, one of them good and the rest wrong, but there is no true explanation how each of those options actually came to be. In The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story, you are shown how every hypothesis (= possible answer in the Solution part) is built, from which hints they derive and how they all make sense (up to a degree). Sometimes, you have a fairly good idea of the case already when you start in the Reasoning part, but occasionally the game really manages to throw a screwball at you because when you combine clue A and B, you not only get hypothesis D you were expecting, but the same clues A and B also generate hypotheses E and F, which on second thought actually seem pretty convincing too (because you are shown that they derive logically from clues A & B). Of course, sometimes the hypothesis you create is obviously fake, in a funny way, but that's okay too: the game always shows that a theory in mystery fiction is based on actual clues shown in the story, and not just a gut feeling of "that person looks suspicious".

As for the cases themselves, most of them are not really complex, but I found most of them quite enjoyable. This is partially because of the grand scale of the story: Haruka is not only dealing with what happens at Shijima manor in 2022, but she also reads a few records of the cases that occured in the past. These parts are of course also presented as live-action drama, and it results in quite some variety on screen: one episode you are investigating a case that occurs in the modern world, the next episode you are transported to a suspicious underground auction in 1922. The period drama parts definitely manage to convey the atmosphere of those periods despite each episode not being very long (most chapters are about an hour long in total). What is also funny is how these period drama parts actually use the same actors as in the 2022 parts: the in-game explanation is that Haruka has to visually imagine the past cases while she reads the old records, and in her mind, she "casts" every character with the faces of people she knows, meaning that her editor Akari can be "cast" as one character in 1922, and "cast" as another in another case. It kinda reminds of the Nero Wolfe television show, which also reused a fixed cast who'd play different characters in different stories. I think these historical episodes are also the most memorable, as the plots of those episodes often make good use of their historical setting, utilizing props and ideas that belong to those periods. 

 

Oh, by the way, for some reason this game doesn't actually automatically move on to the final chapter on its own after playing the preceding chapter. There are no unlock criteria or anything, save for completing the previous episode but you have to especially choose to start with the final chapter in the main menu, even though the game doesn't actually tell you it added the new option for the final chapter, so it's quite possible you think you finished the game, but haven't actually started the final chapter. It's so weird, for it really should have just moved on to the final chapter on its own after finishing the previous one, but it doesn't... The final chapter answers a lot of important lingering questions too, and really helps make this a memorable mystery game by the way, so be sure not to miss it, because without it the story of The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story is incomplete. 

And some minor trivia: voice actor Kaji Yuuki has a minor role in this game, but also the shogi player Kagawa Manao. The latter is interesting, because she also has a role in the shogi-themed mystery adventure game Senri no Keifu as herself. Is she actually a big mystery fan and that's why she has all these guest roles in mystery games???

The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story has plenty of minor faults, from its short run-time, the somewhat clumsy controls to the game being mostly a fairly passive experience. But it does present a very interesting and attractive mystery story dealing with a mysterious family, a mythological fruit and a series of murders that take place across time, and more importantly: it translates the experience of "solving a mystery story" perfectly. Like Trick X Logic before it, The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story shows how a proper detective story should be structured and how it should lay out a trail of clues for the reader to follow, and how readers are supposed to build theories based on these clues. The game mechanics of The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story are exactly how I read mystery fiction, and for example how I tackled my earlier playthroughs of Umineko: When They Cry and Higurashi: When They Cry. That is why I think that fans of puzzle plot mystery fiction really owe it to themselves to play The Centennial Case: A Shijima Story sooner or later. I think that at least for me, this will be one game that'll end up in my list of favorite mysteries at the end of this year.

Original Japanese title(s): 『春ゆきてレトロチカ』

Curious Interpretation

No news is good news

I really shouldn't wait three months after reading a book to finally get started on the review...

Disclosure: I translated Norizuki Rintarou's short story The Lure of the Green Door.

The last time a standalone book was released featuring the mystery writer and amateur detective Norizuki Rintarou was in 2012, when the second Hanzai Horoscope short story collection was released. Who would've guessed that it'd take seven years for a new book with Rintarou and his father Inspector Norizuki would be released? Norizuki Rintarou's Norizuki Rintarou no Shousoku, which also has the English title The News of Norizuki Rintarou was released in 2019 and collects four stories starring the amateur detective named after the author, but while the previous short story collections featured classic puzzler plots, this volume takes a very different form and it's probably not exactly what most readers were expecting after the fun, puzzle-focused Hanzai Horoscope collections. For besides two 'normal' stories where Rintarou and his father discuss an ongoing police investigation together and slowly deduce the most likely truth, there are also two literary bibliomysteries featured here that go deep into the worlds of Sherlock Holmes, G.K. Chesterton and Poirot.

The opening and ending story of this collection are definitely the surprises. The book opens with Hakumen no Tategami ("The Pale Mane"), where Rintarou is asked to read an unpublished manuscript by the deceased 'occult researcher' Tsutsumi Tomoaki, whom Rintarou became involved with during the events of Hanzai Horoscope. The manuscript involves Arthur Conan Doyle and two specific Sherlock Holmes stories and while Rintarou isn't really interested at first, he also happens to be working on a piece on G.K. Chesterton himself and during his research, he discovers a link between Tsutsumi's piece and Chesterton, leading him to an interesting theory regarding the Sherlock Holmes canon. In the final story Curtain Call, Rintarou is hired in an advisory role to a stage play of the Hercule Poirot novel Elephants Can Remember and also asked to write a short piece for the pamphlet. While he's doing research on Elephants Can Remember however, Rintarou sees parallels to the final Poirot story Curtain and eventually, he holds a little discussion group with the people in the theater troupe to find a truth Agatha Christie had hidden in her novels.

Both stories are quite similar in the sense that they are both primarily academic research papers that delve both into the internal themes of the works in discussion, as well as the relevant publishing and writing history (so for example, Conan Doyle's interest in the supernatural). Both stories may be presented in the form of Rintarou getting involved with these texts for some reason, but the bulk of each stories consists of quotations and literary research which honestly isn't going to be interesting at all to a reader unfamiliar with the material discussed. I knew the stories in question and found the literary theories proposed in these stories interesting, but I honestly can't imagine someone who hasn't read those specific Holmes/Poirot stories or who only has a passing interest in them to be entertained by these two tales, as you're basically reading a Literature paper, with analysis, quotations, more analysis and more quotations. Norizuki tries to make things a bit more interesting with minor mysteries for Rintarou in the outside world, but these two stories are definitely not among the most accessible in this series.

Abekobe no Isho ("The Switched Suicide Notes") is a story that was originally written for the 2017 7-nin no Meitantei ("The Seven Great Detectives") anthology and I already discussed it back then. I read it again this time as I had forgotten the details, but there's little to add to my original write-up back in 2017 to be honest. Inspector Norizuki brings an interesting problem back home for his son: He's dealing with two suicides, one by poison, one by jumping off a flat. Suicide notes were also found at both scenes. However the suicide notes were swapped: both victims had the suicide note of the other person. The two victims knew each other and been fighting over the same woman, so they had no reason to be committing suicide together, but why did they have each other's suicide note? Like many of the short stories in this series featuring Inspector Norizuki, the plot develops in a discussion-style: Rintarou and his father are sitting at home, and keep throwing balls at each other to develop their theories: Rintarou suggests something, the Inspector counters that with a new fact, Rintarou comes up with a new hypothesis, the Inspector introduces another fact etc. The story itself is interesting because the problem of the switched notes is both puzzling and yet somehow realistic and it shows off exactly how a theory has to adapt to the new facts each time, but ultimately, this story is solely about theories. In the end,  Rintarou does come up with a clever solution as to why the two victims had the other's suicide note, but it's completely based on layers of assumptions and guesses and the story ends with the Inspector leaving to find confirmation to their theories.

Korosanusaki no Jishu ("Confession of a Non-Murder") is very similar to the previous story, not only in structure, but also in terms of plot. This time, the Inspector is dealing with a case which just doesn't seem to make any sense. Some time ago, a man came to the police confessing a murder, but his "victim" (an old friend whose "advice" regarding breast cancer led to his wife's death) turns out to be alive and well. Later however the woman is really murdered following the man's confession, but the Inspector can't see understand why the man confessed to the murder before it even happened and it seems more likely someone else did it. When the Inspector also learns that the murder had been predicted by a psychic, the whole thing seems to make no sense anymore, which is why he needs his son's help. While the explanation Rintarou comes up with at the end is certainly entertaining and original, I think the whole story lacks a bit of oomph to really sell the idea. I won't say it fell flat, but I think a much more engaging story could've been built on the same building blocks if this for example had been a full novel.

Even as a fan of the series, Norizuki Rintarou no Shousoku is a difficult volume to really recommend as it's so different from the previous short story collections, which all featured excellent puzzler-type stories. There are only two of those in this collection this time and while not bad, they certainly do not rank among the best of Norizuki's puzzlers. The two other stories are interesting to read as literary research papers about Holmes and Poirot, but they are clearly meant for a very, very small niche even within the mystery fanbase. The result is a volume that longtime fans like myself will read anyway, but which ranks in the lowest spot in the priority list when it comes to this series, as the other volumes are much, much better.

Original Japanese title(s): 法月綸太郎『法月綸太郎の消息』:「白面のたてがみ」/「あべこべの遺書」/「殺さぬ先の自首」/「カーテンコール」

Detective Chronicles

気づけば懐かしい川原に来てみたり

昨日みた夢の続き想像してたり

「忘れ咲き」（Garnet Crow）

Before I knew, I had come to this nostalgic riverside

Or imagined how my dream last night would continue

"Blooming Late" (Garnet Crow)

By the time this review will be posted, the horrible season of hay fever will be long, long gone: that's the only comfort I have while writing this text as the tears caused by those accursed pollen are blocking my sight.

Most of the novels I’ve reviewed by author Ashibe Taku have featured the lawyer Morie Shunsaku as the protagonist. He is a somewhat reserved character (some might even say nondescript), but he has certainly made a reputation for himself as not only a capable attorney, but also as gifted amateur detective. In fact, now I think about it, most of the stories I’ve read he’s not hired for his reputation in the court, but rather as a problem solver. Morie was not always an attorney however. In the short story collection Tantei Sengen - Morie Shunsaku no Jikenbo (“Declaration of Detection - The Case Files of Morie Shunsaku”, 1998), we follow Morie Shunsaku through various phases of his life. And while he might a student in one story and a reporter in the other, the tales all have one thing in common: Morie Shunsaku wil solve any impossible crime that crosses his path.

Tantei Sengen was originally published in 1998 (my pocket edition dates from 2005) as not only the first short story collection featuring Morie Shunsaku, but also Ashibe’s very first short story collection ever. The stories collected in this book therefore originate from the period between Ashibe’s debut as a professional writer until this publication, with the oldest story dating from 1991 and the most recent one included written especially for this collection. While the stories were originally written completely independently, Ashibe decided to edit and rewrite all the stories slightly, and added “Author’s Notes” after each tale, which gives the book a consistent feel, rather than feeling like a handful of random stories.

As I noted above, in the books I have read up until now, Morie was already an attorney, but this book delves more into his past, as we first meet him as a high school student en then follow him all the way through hiss life until he’s become an attorney. The stories are printed in chronological order for Morie (not of original publication date) and thus show an interesting look at the background of a character who is usually actually very nondescript in his own stories. I for one had never imagined him as a reporter, so it was quite funny to see him in different roles compared to how I’ve known him up until now. And speaking about funny, all the stories carry the title A Murder Comedy, and while the stories do have some light banter and funny scenes, it’s not slapstick comedy that’s awaiting the readers here. Each of the stories feature a murder, and most of them are also of the impossible kind (a genre Morie specializes in, but that makes sense if you consider he’s been working with them ever since he was in high school).

The book opens with Satsujin Kigeki no Tokeitou (“The Clock Tower: A Murder Comedy”), which also carries the subtitle An Early Case of Morie Shunsaku. We are introduced to a Morie in his high school student days, when he was a (reserve) member of the school’s theater club. The club has gathered at school even though it is closed because of a public transport strike, as they need to prepare for an upcoming performance. While Morie’s busy with prop making in the court, he notices a notorious delinquent student from a different school loitering around, who has been rumored to have forced the star actress of their play into a relation. The club decides to wrap up things for today at dusk, but a scream brings them and other students and teachers present at school to the nearby grove, where the delinquent student is found dead, his head smashed in. It appears that someone had thrown a rock from the school clock tower at the victim’s head from above and then dragged him to the grove, but police investigation shows that everybody has a solid alibi. Morie’s solution to the conundrum is a reasonable one, but one that doesn’t feel as impressive as it could’ve been. A map for example would’ve done wonders for this story, as well as better pacing to help the hinting. I love the basic idea that makes the perfect alibi possible, but there’s almost no hinting available to show that that was possible, and there are also parts that feel much longer than necessary. Balance isn’t missing per se, but it’s not completely level.

We jump a few years in the future in Satsujin Kigeki no Fushigimachi (“The Curious Village: A Murder Comedy”), as it is subtitled A Case During Morie Shunsaku’s College Days. Morie is on a journey by train, but he misses his train and strands in a small village. A man is shot on the beach near the restaurant where Morie’s killing time. The murder weapon is a curious one: an old Spanish matchlock pistol that’s part of the victim’s collection. Morie tries not to get involved, but fate keeps preventing him from catching the next train and eventually decides to solve the murder. In this story we see Ashibe’s interest in history, especially that of Western culture in pre-modern Japan. I am not completely sure whether this is a really fairly-hinted story: Morie is already on to something right from the start (he’s only reluctant to get involved) and some of the mystery can only be solved by some random trivia that is admittedly introduced in the story, but not in a way that makes it actually possible (i.e. “it” is introduced, but not explained in enough detail for the reader to know that a certain action can be done). I did like how the matchlock pistol was used in the story: while the way it used is not brilliantly original, I think the setting and Ashibe’s interest in the topic made this prop a convincing one. This finale of this story connects directly to Morie Shunsaku’s very first novel adventure (and Ashibe Taku’s debut novel) by the way.

Morie Shunsaku had met a reporter in the previous story, and it was probably that influence that resulted in him becoming a reporter himself. Satsujin Kigeki no Choujin Densetsu (“The Legend of the Birdman: A Murder Comedy”), subtitled A Case During Morie Shunsaku’s Reporter Days I, has your local reporter Morie traveling with attorney Kuki to a hotel, but on their way up the hill they pass by a bus incident. When they do arrive at the hotel, the man Kuki was supposed to meet is gone, and after a bit of questioning, it appears something unbelievable has happened: apparently their man had been seen flying off into the sky from the hotel and he had then caused the bus accident, as the driver had been surprised by a man flying in front of the bus. What is the truth behind this flying birdman? This is one story where I think A Murder Comedy is an apt title, as the whole premise of the birdman and the truth behind it are quite farcical, but in a good way. The story reminds of Shimada Souji actually, in terms of the scale of what happened. Fictional murder doesn’t need to be realistic. Often, the most unbelievable, most fanciful approach can actually work for the best. I think that this story is a good example of having a great premise helping the whole story, as while the solution is a bit easy to guess, the absurdness of everything keeps it going.

Morie continues writing local news reports, though he’s apparently not very good at the job, so he’s sent to another location in Satsujin Kigeki no Mayoiga Densetsu (“The Legend Of the Mayoiga: A Murder Comedy"), with the subtitle A Case During Morie Shunsaku’s Reporter Days II. There he meets with an “old” acquaintance (they met in the previous story) and he’s instantly dragged into a new mystery. Morie’s friend swears she saw a big mansion standing at the side of the mountain, but it has disappeared without a trace. The two climb the mountain to find out what has happened to it, but it appears there never was a house there. Their adventure reminds them of the tale of the Mayoiga, the  “Lost House”, a house that appears and disappears at a whim, but which bestows fortune to its visitors. But Morie’s lost house has left something else: a dead body at the place where the house was supposed to be. Overall, I’d say this is a bit of a confusing story, with multiple plots intertwining in a rather unbelievable way to make the premise (disappearing house, appearing body) possible. It reminds slightly of Queen’s The Lamp of God, but that story was simpler, more to the point and less contrived than this one. 

Morie Shunsaku became acquaintances with the attorney Kuki in the adventure with the Birdman, and as the subtitle A Case When Morie Shunsaku Changed Occupation suggests, Satsujin Kigeki no XY (“XY: A Murder Comedy”) is set around the time when Morie Shunsaku made the jump from reporter to attorney. A murder occurs in the Grand Osaka First Building, a tenant building that also houses Kuki’s law offices, where Morie has been working lately. Witness accounts quickly point the finger to the business partner of the victim, but he has disappeared without a trace. But the tenants of the building aren’t given any time to rest, as the first murder is soon followed by a second murder in the same building, committed by the man on the run. Why is the man after all these people in the building and can the police stop him from committing more? This is both the most ambitious and most flawed story of the whole collection. The fundamental problem is that it tries to do too much for a short story. While this is the longest story of the collection, it moves at breakneck speed to include all the elements Ashibe tried to pack inside these pages and the result is something that just doesn’t feel right: things happen too fast, too chaotic, and the plot doesn’t feel consistent. For example, there is an interesting part involving a dying message and linguistics, but the presentation isn’t fair: a lot of necessary information to arrive at a certain deduction is definitely not common knowledge, and also not presented in advance to the reader. More build-up could’ve easily solved that. That said though, the linguistics part is extremely detailed and I think most readers will just give up on it, as it relies too much on specific knowledge. That is a problem that occasionally arises with Ashibe’s stories, as he obviously has a scholarly interest in a variety of topics (including, but not exclusively linguistics, pre-modern and early modern Japanese history, literature and books), but he has a tendency to dive really deep in that stuff, without giving the proper set-up for readers not versed in those topics. Usually he manages to stray just on the right side of the line, but I’d say this is an example of him going too deep, too fast. The other mystery elements of this story also feel a bit disjointed, and the result is a story that never becomes as good as it could’ve been as it tries too much in too little time.

Satsujin Kigeki no C6H5NO2 (“C6H5NO2: A Murder Comedy”), subtitled A Case During Morie Shunsaku’s Spare Time, is a short intermezzo with a parody undertone. Morie Shunsaku is asked to provide an extra solution to a certain case involving poisoned chocolates. It appears a club of amateur detectives had already come up with six solutions, with another female mystery writer posing a seventh solution, but Morie is challenge to come up with an eight solution. Some other people present in the restaurant invite themselves into the conversation however, and that explains the other subtitle of this tale: Denouement 8~13 to The Poisoned Chocolates Case. Yes, this is a parody of Anthony Berkeley’s The Poisoned Chocolates Case, the infamous meta-mystery novel that plays with the notion of “one truth” in a detective plot. Christianna Brand added a seventh solution to the tale in her A New Denouement, but Ashibe decides to go even further by adding solutions 8 to 13! The story is fairly short, so the premise, the original six solutions and Brand’s seven solution are all summarized very shortly, and Ashibe’s own solutions are also explained very briefly. Like the original six solutions, they’re more “interpretations” than full-fledged solutions, but as a way to strengthen Berkeley’s idea of dismissing the one truth, they do their work. This tale also includes guest appearances by several of Ashibe’s other fictional detectives (who all propose a solution), so it’s a very tongue-in-cheek story.

The final story Satsujin Kigeki no Morie Shunsaku (“Morie Shunsaku: A Murder Comedy”) carries the subtitle A Recent Case of Morie Shunsaku and was especially written for this collection to wrap things together. A new client of Morie Shunsaku is stabbed in his back in the hallway on his way to the bathroom. A closer look at his client reveals that the man was wearing a fake beard, and when removed Morie is shocked to learn his client was an old high school classmate of his. The surprises don’t stop here, because he also learns that only a block away from his office, another man had been stabbed in his back in a restaurant. The curious thing is that the knife in the back of the other man had the fingerprints of his classmate, while the knife in the back of his classmate carried the fingerprints of the other dead man. But how could they have stabbed each other in the back if they were in two completely different places? The solution to the impossible situation is not very hard to guess, I think, or at least, most will have a vague idea of what might’ve happened. The real surprise is how this story ties in all the previous stories together though, as it is admittedly a neat way to bring a connection to this set of stories, which were originally just separate, independent stories. It’s certainly a thing Ashibe likes to do and it works mostly in this story. The idea of how he connected these stories is really good and had fooled me completely. The actual execution (as in: how he implemented that idea in this last tale) is a bit weird, as the tone of this story suddenly turns into a cliché thriller with basically no build-up, as we’re suddenly given a Morie Shunsaku Must Die! plot that I have actually never ever seen in any of Ashibe’s stories. It feels horribly out of place. A weird way to end a moderately good collection.

My thoughts on Tantei Sengen - Morie Shunsaku no Jikenbo are not very different from how I usually feel about stories featuring Morie Shunsaku, or Ashibe Taku’s story in general. The basic premise behind the mystery plots is usually good and entertaining, but the execution can be a bit chaotic, or too complex at times. Too many subplots here, too much delving into background topics there. His stories always have a distinct feel of slight unbalance, with a great base, but going just too far in this regard or that regard. Depending on the specific work, and the reader, this can be either a good or a negative point. I for example love Ashibe’s experiments with literary references and meta-fiction, like his The Poisoned Chocolates Case parody in this collection, but some might think it feels too much like an inside joke. The stories in this collection all have great ideas within them, and the way Ashibe manages to connect the stories together is also surprising, but each of these stories also has something that makes you go “Good, but…”. Overall, I’d say this collection is a good book, that also offers a good diverse look at the character Morie Shunsaku, but it’s also a book that’ll have you say a couple of times “If only that had been different.”

Original Japanese title(s): 芦辺拓 『探偵宣言 森江春策の事件簿』 / 「殺人喜劇の時計塔―森江春策、初期の事件」 / 「殺人喜劇の不思議町―森江春策、大学時代の事件」 / 「殺人喜劇の鳥人伝説―森江春策、記者時代の事件I」 / 「殺人喜劇の迷い家伝説―森江春策、記者時代の事件II」 / 「殺人喜劇のXY―森江春策、転身前後の事件」 / 「殺人喜劇のC6H5NO2―森江春策、余暇の事件」 / 「殺人喜劇の森江春策―森江春策、最近の事件」

The Magic Book

一万年と二千年前から愛してる

八千年過ぎた頃からもっと恋しくなった

「創聖のアクエリオン」（Akino）

I've been loving for ten and two thousand years

I yearned for you even more after eight thousand years

"Genesis of Aquarion" (Akino)

I have a lot of books, but I am not a collector (I am a reader). I think the oldest book I have is De Geheimzinnige Japanees (review here), which is probably over a hundred years old (can't find the exact publishing year), but I only have that thing because I wanted to read the story, not to own an  old book.

Many clients of attorney Morie Shunsaku can be deemed 'memorable', but Kuga'numa Eijirou was one of the more unique ones. His first job for Morie was a simple one: to draw up a will. For his second problem however, he did not need the attorney Morie, but the famed amateur detective Morie. Morie is to look into an old manuscript Kuganuma got his hands on: the manuscript appears to be have been used as a journal by six different persons from different places, over a period of three hundred years: the earliest part dates from 1700 and was written by a traveler in the East, while the last entry dates from as late as in 1937. What ties this six records together is that each of them contain an unsolved mystery: from a murder that couldn't have been committed because the suspect had a perfect alibi, to a walking set of armor that vanishes from a locked room in a second. Morie is supposed to look into the book, but that is not his only problem, because his client is killed right after he left Morie's offices, shot down in a cul-de-sac, of which the entrance was observed by Morie's assistant and with no footprints left in the snow by either the victim, nor the murderer. Can Morie solve all the unsolved riddles that lie before him in Ashibe Taku's Sanbyakunen no Nazobako ("A Three Hundred Year Old Box of Mysteries", 2005)?

The Morie Shunsaku series is Ashibe Taku's main series, featuring an attorney who also works as an amateur detective. Sometimes, his sleuthing is part of his main job, like in Saibanin Houtei, but he is just as likely to accidently stumble upon a mystery, like in The Castle of Grand Guignol. Ashibe basically uses the character for a variety of stories, meaning you never really know what you can expect from a Morie Shunsaku novel until you've started with it. Sanbyakunen no Nazobako lies somewhere in between the extremes: he was asked to solve the mysteries recorded in the book in his role as an amateur detective, but it's his obligation to his client (and curiosity) that has him go into the murder of Kumagawa.

Sanbyakunen no Nazobako is by any standards a very unique book. It is basically a story-within-a-story (or to be precise: six-stories-within-a-story), with the Morie Shunsaku narrative bookending the six stories recorded in the book. These six stories have no direct connection with each other: they are set in different times, different places and with different characters. We start off with a story about a traveler in the East in 1709 for example, but the next story is about the pirate ship the Sea Serpent in South-East Asia in 1721, while the one after that is in set in China in 1793. Each of these stories belong to a different genre. From a swashbuckling adventure to a Western to an record of an expedition in Africa: every story is unique and on the whole interesting enough to read on their own. Diversity is something that is defintely not lacking in Sanbyakunen no Nazobako.

The stories are obviously also mystery stories (or else I wouldn't be discussing it). The mysteries featured in the stories vary from impossible disappearances and murders to alibi tricks. What makes these narratives unique though is that the mysteries remain mostly unsolved within each seperate record. While some minor mysteries are solved, often the biggest question remains unanswered. Morie doesn't solve all of the stories until the very end of the book, in the final chapter. A problem here is that most of the mysteries aren't really that inspired. I'd say that this partly because of the unique set-up of this book. You have six stories that all feature a minimum of two mysteries (one to be solved within the narrative, one to be left unsolved until the end of the book), plus the murder in the bookend chapters. That's thirteen different mysteries and solutions. And that's not even the whole problem.

For the true unique feature is that Morie eventually explains each of the six unsolved mysteries at the end of the book and shows that each of the mysteries actually had a common factor, one that is even shared with his own murder case. So this book features thirteen problems that need to be solved, seven of which also need to have a common factor. The result however is that each of the problems is rather simple and not particularly exciting. Part of the reason why I'm not doing summaries on each of the short stories is in fact because the stories are so short, and the premises behind the problems so simple I don't think I could do a meaningful summary without spoiling something. Anyway, the solutions are usually so simple that not once do you really feel catharsis when a century old riddle is solved, and some are actually bad (the one in the story set in Beijing is ridiculous). None of the problems really have the time to build up tension because of the large number of stories. The book is certainly not short, so perhaps it would've been better if there had been less, but longer stories that could provide more complex mysteries. The fact each of the stories end with an unsolved mystery is also a bit... irritating. While you know the solution will come at the very end of the book, the fact each time you 'reset' everything (new setting/characters) for each story makes the wait for the conclusion feel even longer.

The 'connection' between the various mysteries is also suspect, at best. The common factor that Morie identifies, and which becomes a clue for his own case, feels very forced, as it almost requires Adam West Batman-logic to identify that factor in some of the stories. This hurts the overall book, because the premise is that Morie solves the six records, recognizes a pattern and applies that to his case: if the pattern is not obvious, the conclusion will fall flat.

While I don't think the experiment was a great succes, I do really like the idea behind Sanbyakunen no Nazobako. A lot of the books I've read by Ashibe Taku incorporate elements from the bibliomystery genre, and as this book is all about solving a crime through the reading of secondary texts, I think lovers of the bibliomystery genre can appreciate the effort. I also think the first story, A New Venetian Night's Entertainment, is really great as a bibliomystery. The 'murder mystery' is rather easy to solve, but the deeper reading of this text by Morie at the conclusion was fantastic. Very occasionally I see mystery stories do something similar, and when it's done well, it's really satisfying.
 
Sanbyakunen no Nazobako is a fantastic example of a great idea, but where the execution lacked. It definitely has some great moments as a bibliomystery, and it won't bore as each narrative gives you something new, but as a mystery novel it feels lacking, especially considering how absolutely great this book would've been if the concept had been executed perfectly. It might be going a bit too far to call it a missed opportunity, but there was definitely more that could've come out of this idea.

Original Japanese title(s): 芦辺拓　『三百年の謎匣』